Whispering_Jack

It's a sad and tragic story for all concerned including the victims of Liam's crime. I hope all concerned can find peace and that Liam can turn his life around. Nothing more to say at this stage really.

If Stockdale gets in as President, I would expect more of these shenanigans and I hope he receives a little more support and loyalty from his board as he gave to Gutnick over a decade ago. From http://www.afana.com/netpaper/may27-88533.html

Congratulations on getting this thread to 200 pages Redleg. As one of the moderators on Demonland, I think our decision to allow it to go beyond the second or third page would be, without doubt, the greatest blunder we've made on the site but now that the damage has been done, please continue ...

I think this piece from "opposition analyst" just about sums it up (although I suspect Neeld had a role in adopting the plan used successfully by Malthouse to win a flag in 2010): Flattery or imitation: Demons fail to copy Malthouse plan The problem is that on Monday, Melbourne didn't have the personnel available to enable it to work for the full four quarters and particularly so after Chris Dawes had to be subbed off at half time. I think Neeld knew this and, as a consequence, there was a fair bit of work done to avoid the necessity of subbing him off earlier (which was probably to the team's detriment in the end). Though we certainly don't have the cattle, I think this highlights Neeld's greatest problem - his inflexibility in being able to make the necessary moves once the wheels start falling off (and confidence levels drop) in order to change the flow of the game. We've seen it enough times this year and last. On Monday, Collingwood scored 10.6 to 0.4 in a patch from quarter time until halfway through the third quarter. While Neeld has done well in attempting to do what he says was his mission - to "change the culture of the club" and this aim should continue into the future irrespective of who is the coach, he has failed to fulfill what I see as a fundamental in coaching on match days with flexible tactics and strategies that can work to change the course of games. If he hasn't shown this ability in 1½ years as coach, I can't see things changing in the next 12 weeks and, as a consequence, he's on his way out. He'll be very lucky to see out the season unless he's able to find ways for the team to consistently play as it did in the first quarter on Monday. He's been dealt a shocking hand as a coach with everything that's happened at the club both before and since he took over but the reality is that he is at the least no better at the coaching caper than his predecessor even with all of the extra assistance at his disposal.

We are improving from two years ago when we lost by more than 83 points on the Queens Birthday Grand Final.

Whatever the case, there will be plenty of time and opportunity after the break and while I have reservations about both of them, they deserve their chances as does Clisby.

The halfway mark of the season and the bye. Time for most in football to rest and rejuvenate but where to from here for Melbourne? Apart from all the troubles we have during games, how do we keep up the morale of the players, particularly of our more senior players? What do we do with our young blokes? Rookie elevations? Yesterday, we gave away 13 goals 11 behinds by way of turnovers. How do we stop that? These are some of the questions for mid season discussion - let's keep this to the football side.

They were bigger, stronger and more experienced but we had a crack. Unfortunately, what worked in the first quarter failed after that. The loss of Dawes affected our forward structure and we simply lapsed into a frenzy of self-inflicted errors of which Collingwood took maximum advantage. Once we eliminate the errors, these games will be 6 to 8 goal losses. Get a few of those injured blokes back and we won't be far away from winning games against our fellow cellar dwellers.

Someone whose name starts with Jones.

Happy? I believe he's a band member. On the left, back row.

I reckon Collingwood are falling apart - Collingwood says forward Andrew Krakouer will return It wasn't all that long ago that Krakouer was the matchwinner for them and we would surely have struggled to match him up today. They've also lost Jamie Elliott who would have been a bit of a worry too. Elliott's been replaced by first gamer Adam Oxley. I'd like to see three of our blokes corral him in the first five minutes and give him a bit of an 'initiation'.

I can see the headline now: MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN boom boom

I don't know much about him but Tom Bell of Carlton is a big strong midfielder but can't get a game there. How's his disposal?

I know, I can hear her now from across four sets of fences.

A pet cockatoo. Now fancy that!As a near neighbour, I always thought the loud screechy voice belonged to she who must be obeyed!

Queens Birthday and our biggest stage for the 2013 season (although I'm discounting the fact that its still mathematically possible for us to make the finals if we win every remaining game and improve our percentage). And with us on the big stage, it gets really weird. The Ox gets death threats? Please, if the perpetrator of that little piece of nonsense is reading this, turn yourself in - you need help! On the field, I'm full of hope that the team will respond today. It used to be a non negotiable that Melbourne would come out and perform at its best against the old enemy. I suppose that's ancient history but it would be good if we had a dip and gave them a scare like GWS did v Geelong on Saturday. The changes to the team (apart from Frawley's outing by injury) give me some confidence.

An enjoyable read - and thought provoking. I don't know what's coming over the media with balanced articles these days. Whether or not Watts' selection as #1 draft pick or his initiation onto the big stage four years ago were justified is now a matter for history. I note Essendon gave Joe Daniher his debut in an important fixture in front of 80 thousand and the decision didn't raise as much concern. On the other hand, the drafting rules have changed now so that Watts would only have been eligible to be selected via something like the GWS mini draft (which is gone now). Jesse Hogan who is the same age now as when Watts made his debut can't play AFL till next year. Of course, during the tanking inquisition there were claims that Melbourne held Watts back to only three games because of its tanking policy. Go figure? I suppose Jack's time at the MFC could well be running out. He's still popular with my grandkids who wear his number on their backs but I suppose, like many others at the club, he and the club have 12 weeks to do something.

There are many costs to consider when ringing in changes. Wikipedia covers the tumultuous period after the merger vote until Joe Gutnick was voted out by the members who installed the Team Vision ticket headed by Gabriel Szondy. Look what happened in its aftermath. Of course, Daniher stayed on another four years and we made the finals in three of them before the wheels fell off. I think that if you analyse the on field ills of our club today, many of them originated during those four years and were compounded in the years that followed. Neeld was given the job of cleaning up the mess but some believe he's just made things worse. On the other hand, his supporters would maintain he needs more time to achieve his objective. Off the field, our problems have been ongoing for a much longer period of time so we can't expect quick fixes in that area. Peter Jackson has the tools to bring about change and I assume the expected announcement of the review into the board will mark another new beginning in the club's history. There's never a dull moment.

Here's a par on Dominic Sheed who sounds a bit like an Ollie Wines type (I haven't seen him yet so I stand corrected). Smith sets gold standard for WA

The shoulder or the player?

I've found the VFL finals eligibility rules and posted them on a separate thread for future reference - AFL listed player eligibility for VFL FINALS. It seems to me that where you have a lowly club where necessity demands player changes, you're going to have less players qualifying because of the senior game number limits. At least that's how it seems from previous experience.

I thought WA's Dominic Sheed was also a top 10 prospect. Apparently starred for WA yesterday.

There's been some discussion about the eligibility of AFL listed players for VFL finals. This is governed by the VFL Rule 20: Finals Eligibilty - 2013 Peter Jackson VFL Finals Series 20.1 Players who have not played at least one (AFL or VFL) Senior or AFL Victoria Development League match in the relevant season shall be ineligible to play in the Senior Grade Finals. 20.2 Subject to Regulation 20.3 below, players who have played with the AFL Senior team of any AFL Club after the 1st day of July in the relevant season shall be ineligible to play in the VFL Senior or AFL Victoria Development League Finals unless they have played a total of at least six (6) Senior VFL or AFL Victoria Development League matches in the same season. 20.3 Players who have not played at least two (2) AFL Victoria Development League matches in the relevant season shall be ineligible to play in the AFL Victoria Development League Finals save where immediately prior to selection, an AFL or VFL listed player has missed through injury, at least ten (10) consecutive home & away matches of the VFL football season and his club remains active in the senior VFL Finals series. 20.4 Players who have played in more than eight (8) Senior VFL Grade matches shall not be eligible to play in Final Series matches of the AFL Victoria Development League unless they have played in at least six (6) matches of the AFL Victoria Development League. 20.5 Notwithstanding the provisions of this Rule 20, except for Regulation 20.6 below, when a Club has both of its Senior Grade (AFL or VFL) teams engaged on the same day (or consecutive days), the selection of players in the VFL Senior Grade team shall be unrestricted, provided a player has participated in at least one (AFL or VFL) Senior Grade or AFL Victoria Development League match in that relevant season. 20.6 When an AFL Club is eliminated from the AFL Final Series on the same weekend as the VFL Grand Final, AFL listed players must qualify for selection under Regulation 21.2. 20.7 Notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 20, for a VFL Club(s) who does not field a AFL Victoria Development League team in the competition, AFL listed players must qualify players under Regulation 20.2 and must have played not more than 12 AFL games to be eligible to play in VFL finals matches.

Terry Wallace produced edition 1 of his weekly "rolling draft" for 2013 on today's TAC Cup Future Stars:- 1. GWS TOM BOYD (Eastern Ranges) 2. Melbourne JOSH KELLY (Sandringham Dragons) 3. St. Kilda JAMES AISH (South Australia) 4. Brisbane JACK BILLINGS (Oakleigh Chargers) 5. W Bulldogs MATT SCHARENBERG (South Australia) 6. North Melbourne LUKE MCDONALD (Oakleigh Chargers F/S) 7. Gold Coast JONATHON MARSH (Western Australia) 8. Port Adelaide MATT CROUCH (N Ballarat Rebels) 9. Adelaide DARCY GARDINER (Geelong Falcons) 10. West Coast DAYLE GARLETT (Western Australia) There will be plenty of changes over the next six months before the draft is held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in late November. Of course, the MFC could get a priority pick if Redleg's blueprint works.

Melbourne's Choice